Google to challenge Microsoft with new OS

Google has announced on their blog yesterday that they intend on introducing a PC operating system which follows Chrome’s ideology. Much akin to Google’s browser, their OS is planned to be quick, lightweight, and secure and will even follow the “Chrome” nomenclature. Being an extension of their browser, the search-giant envisions Chrome OS to be very Web-centric, with a minimalistic user interface.

Given its premise, Google plans to aim their featherweight OS at netbooks – at least, initially. They claim to be working with several OEMs to bring Chrome OS-bearing netbooks to market as early as the second half of 2010. The project is fully open source, and its code will be released in the coming months. Chrome OS will run on x86 and ARM chips.

Naturally, this poses a threat to Microsoft as both companies are already strong competitors in various arenas; search, webmail, browsers, mobile operating systems and so on. Redmond, too, has intentions on making its latest OS, Windows 7, available on netbooks – and I’m sure you recall Windows XP showing Linux to the door.

Google has a fantastic opportunity to “fix” something that is often cited as the pitfall of mainstream Linux distros; they can make Chrome OS easy to use. I’m not sitting cross-legged on a mountain - and I’m not computer stupid - but every time I dabble with Linux, I’m put off by the learning curve. Here’s to wishing Google the best of luck.